I understand that there are a lot of poems going out into cyberspace in honour of St. Brigid’s Day. Here’s where to look for an invitation.
And here’s my contribution, a poem I wrote a few years ago in a creative writing class. The teacher didn’t particularly like it, but I did and so did many of my classmates.
Nantucket, Nantucket,
We went to you for memories sake
You did not disappoint us
The boat, the spray, the mist,
The emerging outline on the horizon
Summer island of our youth
We walked your cobbled streets
Absorbed your red bricks and your gray shingled cottages
The air of former whaling days
Of widows looking out to sea
Watching for sea-faring husbands never to return
Your sandy beaches, playgrounds for the summer visitors
We were young and carefree, only there to play
Maybe work to earn our keep
But that was quite light-hearted
Waiting table, washing dishes
Cycling to the beach
Midnight swims
Dancing at the Upper Deck
Flirting with the fellows
And yet behind it all lay the ghost of Moby Dick
And all that made Nantucket famous
In former days of sail and ambergris
The beloved grey lady of the sea
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